Isolation
by ChestyMcBoobs
Summary: Bad timing, bad luck, and a few simple mistakes put two CSIs in danger. (sequel to Blood Ties. COMPLETE!)
1. Default Chapter

Title: Isolation (1/?) (Second story in an ongoing series that began with "Blood Ties.")  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own anything to do with CSI: Miami, and all you'd get if you sued me is a laptop and a couple pairs of really nice shoes. Hardly seems worth it, right?  
  
Rating: PG-13 (language and violence, no fun stuff in this one, I'm afraid.)  
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC) slight Tim/Calleigh  
  
Feedback: Your feedback = my inspiration = more frequent updates.  
  
Summary: A combination of bad luck, bad timing, and a few simple mistakes put two of the CSIs in grave danger.  
  
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The Story So Far: On her first case after leaving vice to join the CSI team, 24-year-old Maria Santiago found herself hit a little harder than expected by the murder of two college students. Meanwhile, the mutual attraction between Maria and Eric led to her going home with him on the first night, and a quickie at the lab the next morning. When another murder hit too close to home for Maria, she broke down, and Horatio let her take the rest of the day off. Eric followed her back to the hotel room where she had been living, and she confessed to him that she had been married before, and, like the victims of the second attack, had been emotionally abused. It's now six weeks later. Eric and Maria are still seeing each other, and Maria has recently moved in with Calleigh...  
  
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"Good morning." Calleigh said brightly.  
  
Maria barely looked up from the coffee mug she was hunched over. "Ugh...sorry, no speak-a the English till my third cup."  
  
"What time did you come in this morning?" Calleigh asked, pouring a cup of coffee for herself.  
  
"Around four, I guess." Maria replied.  
  
"Well, thanks for not waking me up."  
  
Maria shrugged. "You're welcome. Wish I'd been as lucky with Eric. He was pretty determined to keep me there." She could still feel his hands and lips caressing her skin as she made a half-hearted effort to get out of his bed. In the end, she'd given in and let him have   
  
his way with her. Not that she had exactly minded. She'd left his apartment an hour later than she had intended, with a dazed smile on her face.  
  
Calleigh sat down across  the kitchen table. "Why don't you just take a change of clothes with you when you stay over there?"  
  
"Same reason I don't keep a toothbrush and tampons at his place." Maria said. "Because that's...it's a 'couple' thing. Eric and I aren't a couple."  
  
"You've been sleeping together for more than a month." Calleigh pointed out.  
  
"And that's it." Maria stated firmly. "We're having fun, that's the point. I can't get into a relationship right now, and he's cool with that."  
  
"If you say so." Calleigh said. She could sense that this conversation was going nowhere. "You want the first shower?"  
  
Maria shook her head. "Nah, you go ahead."  
  
_______________________   
  
"Well, if it isn't Jugs. Where's Ammo?" Hagen greeted Maria as she approached the house.   
  
"That's charming, John." Maria sighed, rolling her eyes. "Must have taken you at least a day or two to think that one up, huh? Calleigh's working with Speedle on a case. So, is it just us?"  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you, no." Hagen replied. "Delko's already here. Horatio would be, but it looks like he'll be stuck in traffic for a while."  
  
"Typical Miami." Maria sighed. "So, what do we have?"  
  
"One vic, male." Eric replied, emerging from the house. "No I.D, but it looks like a drug deal gone bad, so we've already sent fingerprints back to the lab to be cross-checked with criminal records."  
  
"Anyone else in the house?" Maria asked.   
  
"Just the three of us and Alexx." Eric said. Maria's eyes met his, and they shared a brief, secret smile.  
  
Hagen was oblivious. "Well, are we just going to stand here all day?"  
  
___________________________  
  
Horatio was getting impatient. The traffic was at a stand-still, had been for more than half an hour.   
  
The ringing of his cell phone interrupted his thoughts, and he grabbed it off the seat next to him. "Caine."  
  
"Horatio, it's Laura." The lab tech greeted him. "I've got an I.D on your victim. His name's Michael Stoeger, thirty-two years old. Three priors for dealing pot, no convictions."  
  
__________________________  
  
"Apparently, he's a single father." Horatio relayed what Laura had told him about the victim to Maria.  
  
"So where's the kid?" Maria asked, watching as Alexx and Eric loaded the body bag containing Stoeger into the ambulance.  
  
"Well, the house was empty when Michael was found, wasn't it?" Horatio pointed out. "His daughter, Janie, is four, she's probably in preschool. Just to be safe, we've got some people looking for her."  
  
Hagen approached Maria at that moment. "I just called Janie Stoeger's school, she's absent, and no one's called in."  
  
"Shit." Maria gasped. "Horatio, did you hear that?" She said into her cell phone.  
  
"I heard it."  
  
"There's more." Hagen said. "A woman who lives next door just told me that she's baby-sat for Janie a few times, and the kid loves to hide in the crawl spaces behind the bedrooms."  
  
"Were those checked?" Horatio asked, having overheard.  
  
Maria repeated the question to Hagen, who shook his head. "Just the closets and the attic."  
  
"What do you want us to do, H?" Maria asked.   
  
"Check the crawl spaces, maybe she hid in there." Horatio said. "I've got to go, traffic's finally starting to move. Keep me posted."  
  
"Hoo-ah, boss." Maria replied. She saw Hagen give her a look as she closed her cell phone. "What? You can take the girl out of the Army..."  
  
"What's up?" Eric asked.  
  
"Turns out the vic's kid might still be in the house after all." Maria told him. "H wants us to check the crawl spaces behind the bedroom. John, we'll handle that, can you see what else you can get from the neighbors?"  
  
"I think I should go in with you." Hagen said.  
  
"We only need two, and Eric and I have seen more of the house than you have." Maria replied.  
  
"She's got a point." Eric backed Maria up.  
  
"All right, I'll handle the neighbors." Hagen relented.  
  
"Good." Maria looked at Eric, then at the house, absently placing one hand on her gun. "Let's go."  
  
_______________________  
  
"How long do we think the kid's been in here?" Eric asked as he followed Maria up the stairs.   
  
"Alexx said Stoeger had been dead for at least forty-eight hours." Maria replied, approaching the room where the body had been found. "If the kid heard or saw anything, she's probably in shock, so it's not impossible that she's been keeping out of sight since. When the officers searched the house, she could have kept quiet." She carefully opened the closet door, pushing aside the clothes that were hanging in there.  
  
"Check this out." Eric shined his flashlight on the ceiling, where a cord dangled from a trapdoor. "That's too high for her to have gotten up there, right?"  
  
"Right." Maria said. "And Hagen said the attic had been checked." Feeling around the back wall of the closet, she finally found what she was looking for. A small, painted over latch. "When my dad was stationed in Minnesota, we lived in a house that had spaces like this. They're pretty hard to find, unless you know exactly what you're looking for. My sister used to hide her boyfriend in the one behind her room, until our folks turned in for the night."  
  
"You never tried that?" Eric teased.  
  
"I was nine." Maria laughed. She flipped the latch, and most of the back wall opened up, falling right into her hands. Leaning it against the side of the close, she ducked down and peered in. "Janie? Are you in here, sweetie? It's okay, we're here to help you. No one can hurt you now."  
  
For a moment, the two CSIs held their breath and listened. Then, from the back of the crawl space, they heard a rustling sound, and then a tiny voice, hoarse from crying.  
  
"My daddy was shouting." The small girl said as she crawled towards them. "He whispered to me to stay in here until he came to get me, and then I heard him shouting and there was a loud noise."  
  
Maria winced. She'd been afraid that the child had heard her father die, and that confirmed it. "Your daddy was right to put you in here, that was smart of him." She said in a soft, soothing tone. "But it's safe for you to come out now, okay? Come with us." She held out her hand.  
  
Janie came fully into view and stood up. Her nightgown and hair were spotted with cobwebs and dust bunnies, and her face was streaked from her tears. She looked at Maria's outstretched hand, hesitated, and then took it.  
  
"Good girl." Maria said gently, pulling the child out into the bedroom. "That's good, Janie. Your daddy would be proud of you." She handed Janie off to Eric, who picked her up and held her so that she was facing away from the bloodstain on the opposite side of the bed.  
  
"Okay, Janie, we're going to take you outside now, all right?" He spoke in a tone similar to Maria's. "There are some people who will want to talk you, but first there's a doctor out there who will want to make sure you're not hurt."  
  
"I scraped my knee." Janie whispered, sucking on her fingertips.  
  
"Well, the doctor will give you and band-aid for that." Maria said, rubbing the girl's shoulder as the three of them made their way to the door.   
  
Both Eric and Maria were focusing on the frightened child. Neither of them realized they weren't alone until it was too late.  
  
It happened too quickly for Maria to be entirely sure what had happened. But within seconds, there was a crack, then a groan, and then Janie shrieking. The next thing Maria was aware of, Eric was on his knees, clutching the back of his head. A piece of metal piping lay on the ground near him, his gun was a few feet beyond his reach, and blood was beginning to seep out between his fingers.  
  
Maria looked around and saw the bathroom door next to the bedroom was wide open. Inside, a tall, lanky one man had one hand on the window, trying to force it open. His other hand was clutching the back of Janie's nightgown, holding her a foot off the ground. The girl's face was contorted with fear as she sobbed.  
  
"Let her go and put your hands behind your head!" Maria ordered, aiming her gun at the suspect. Where in the hell had he come from?  
  
"Shut up, bitch!" He yelled. "Shut up or I'll kill her!"  
  
"If you hurt her, I will blow your head off." Maria snapped. She glanced at Eric, who was struggling to stand up, then back at the man and his terrified hostage. He was now holding her up in a way that made it impossible for Maria to get a good shot at him without endangering Janie, even at such a close range. There was only one thing left to do.  
  
With a deep breath, she charged the suspect, throwing all her weight against him. Surprised, he dropped Janie onto the tile floor, and the little girl screamed as she scrambled out of the bathroom. Maria's gun clattered to the floor, and she reached for it just as the suspect pounced on her, pulling her back by her hair. In a flash, she was on her knees, with her arms pinned behind her, her head tilted back, and the cold steel of a knife blade pressed against her throat.  
  
Ignoring the pulsating pain in his head, Eric managed to stand up when he saw the danger Maria was in. His gun was out of his reach, in the seconds it would take for him to reach it, Maria's captor could easily slice her throat.  
  
"Back off, man!" The suspect shouted, pressing the knife further into Maria's flesh. The skin under the blade turned white from the pressure. She closed her eyes, but her face remained calm. "I mean it, I'll cut her fucking head off!"  
  
Eric became aware of the fact that Janie was clinging to his leg as he heard Maria's voice.  
  
"Get out!" She said, her voice low but urgent. "Eric, get her the hell out of here, quick! Go!"  
  
Picking up the little girl with one arm, while keeping the other hand pressed firmly against the back of his head, Eric watched helplessly as the suspect kicked the bathroom door shut and Maria disappeared from his view. The clicking of the lock snapped him out of it, and he turned and fled down the stairs with Janie.  
  
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TBC... 


	2. Chapter Two

Title: Isolation (2/?) (Second story in an ongoing series that began with "Blood Ties.")  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own anything to do with CSI: Miami, and all you'd get if you sued me is a laptop and a couple pairs of really nice shoes. Hardly seems worth it, right?  
  
Rating: PG-13 (language and violence, no fun stuff in this one, I'm afraid.)  
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC) slight Tim/Calleigh  
  
Feedback: Your feedback = my inspiration = more frequent updates.  
  
  
  
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"They find the girl yet?" Hagen asked Alexx.  
  
"I don't think so." She replied. "They just went in a few minutes ago. I'm about to head back and start the post."  
  
"What the hell?" Hagen said suddenly, pointing to the house.  
  
Alexx looked up just in time to see Eric running towards them, holding a little girl. "What happened?" Alexx asked him as he handed the child to a social worker who had been called in.  
  
"There was a guy in there...hiding...I don't know where he was, he..." Eric rambled, disoriented.  
  
"Oh my God..." Alexx gasped as she noticed for the first time that he was injured. "Eric, you're bleeding. Let me see that."  
  
"Where's Santiago?" Hagen asked.  
  
Alexx froze. She'd been so concerned about Eric, she'd almost forgotten about Maria.   
  
"He's got her, he's holding her hostage with a knife to her throat." Eric replied helplessly.  
  
"Jesus." Alexx murmured as she pressed a gauze pad against the cut in the back of Eric's head.   
  
Hagen looked perplexed. "What would he want with her?"  
  
"I'm not sure, he wasn't exactly forthcoming when he smacked me upside the head with a metal pipe." Eric snapped impatiently.  
  
"Okay, just calm down." Alexx said soothingly. "I'm going to call Horatio. Maria's strong, I'm sure she'll be just fine. But you need to get to the hospital, this looks like it could be bad."  
  
But Eric was already standing up. An adrenaline rush was kicking in, and all he could think of was running back up those stairs and breaking down the bathroom door to get to Maria. "No, I'm not going anywhere until I know she's safe."  
  
"Eric, no." Alexx said firmly. "You need medical attention. You could have a serious injury."  
  
Ignoring her, Eric took out his cell phone.  
  
________________________  
  
Maria let herself go limp, and her attacker responded by tightening his grip on her hair.   
  
"I'm cool, man. I won't fight you." She said calmly. "Just don't hurt me." She was trapped. Her gun had fallen across the bathroom floor. And the guy wasn't huge, but he did have a definite height and weight advantage over her. At the moment, her best shot seemed to be to talk him down.   
  
"I am going to hurt you." He replied, too calmly. "They're coming for me, it's only a matter of time now. They're going to kill me. So I have to kill you."   
  
With that, he released her hair, throwing her down so she landed with her back against the bathtub. She watched as her attacker calmly stepped over her and picked up her gun. He turned it over in his hands a few times, then shoved it into the pocket of his jeans. Then he looked at her, and she recognized the look in his eyes instantly. He was high, on meth or something similar. She'd seen enough people under the influence of such substances before to know how unpredictable they were. There was only one thing she could be certain of.  
  
Surviving this situation was going to be harder than she had thought.  
  
_______________________  
  
"Eric, are you absolutely sure you're all right?" Horatio asked. The younger man had insisted his injury wasn't serious, but Horatio could hear him slurring his words slightly as he spoke, and he knew that Alexx had been encouraging Eric to go to the hospital.  
  
"H, I'm fine." Eric replied. "I'm more concerned about Maria."  
  
"Is Alexx still there? Let me talk to her."  
  
"I'm here, Horatio." Alexx said a moment later. "The cut's not very big, but it is deep. I can stop the external bleeding easily enough, but there could be internal bleeding, and he seems disoriented."  
  
"But he's refusing to get medical attention?" Horatio asked incredulously. "All right, keep an eye on him. I'll be there soon."  
  
_______________________  
  
"So, let me ask you something." Calleigh said to Tim. The case they had been working on was closed, the elderly woman's death had been a suicide. "Does Delko ever talk about what's going on with him and Maria?"  
  
Tim rolled his eyes as he poured a cup of coffee for himself, and one for Calleigh. "I think the better question would be does he ever stop talking about it."  
  
"Uh-oh." Calleigh raised an eyebrow. "Please tell me that he just brags about the fact that he gets to screw her constantly and never has to pay for dinner."  
  
"He's mentioned that she's a 'total hornball,' his words." Tim said with a slight shrug. "But it's pretty obvious that he's in it for more than just sex. Why? She's not?"  
  
"Apparently." Calleigh sighed, sitting down on the couch. "She seems to think that he's still on board with the whole 'friends with benefits' arrangement. I just hope they get it sorted out, I'd hate to see either of them get hurt."  
  
"I could be wrong, you know." Tim said, sitting down beside her. "I get the impression that Delko likes the dirty looks he gets from Hagen when he talks about Maria. Hagen's definitely jealous."  
  
"And you're not?" Calleigh asked.  
  
"Nah. Maria's cute, sure, and she's pretty cool. But she's not my type." Tim admitted. "There's something about her that's sort of...out there."  
  
Calleigh laughed. "Did I tell you she wants to feng shui our bathroom?"  
  
"Seriously? Okay, so she's really not my type." Tim said as he picked up the remote and turned on the TV.  
  
"Honestly, she's a good friend." Calleigh sighed, taking a sip of her coffee. "But if she ever offers to align you chakras, run-"  
  
"Calleigh." Tim interrupted, pointing to the TV.  
  
Looking at the news report on the screen, Calleigh almost choked on her coffee. "Oh my God."  
  
"What began as a murder investigation," The reporter was saying, "Has now escalated into an apparent hostage crisis. We have unconfirmed reports that two crime scene investigators went into the house about twenty minutes ago, apparently in search of a young girl who was believed to be hiding inside, at some point they encountered a suspect, and a scuffle ensued. We are waiting for confirmation that one of the investigators was injured, and the second is being held hostage by the suspect."  
  
"Holy shit." Tim looked at Calleigh. "Did Maria happen to tell you where the scene she and Delko were working on was?"  
  
"I can't remember." Calleigh said softly, not looking away from the screen. "But it's got to be them, don't you think? I mean, who else could it be?"  
  
Tim's cell phone rang, and he took it out of his pocket. "It's Horatio." He opened the phone quickly. "Yeah, we just turned on the news. What's going on over there?" He listened for a moment. "God damn it. Yeah, okay. Okay, let us know." He closed the phone. "Delko's hurt, Horatio doesn't know how bad he is, he won't go to the hospital."  
  
"And Maria?" Calleigh asked nervously.  
  
"She charged the guy to protect the kid, and he managed to catch her off guard. Last thing Delko saw before the guy slammed the bathroom door on him was that he'd managed to disarm her, and he had a knife to her throat."  
  
Calleigh closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. "Oh God..."  
  
"Hey, it'll be okay." Tim said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "There's already a SWAT team on the way, and I'm sure Maria, of all people, knows how to talk her way out of a bad situation."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Calleigh sighed, forcing herself to stay calm. "We should go over there." She stood up and grabbed her purse off the counter. "Come on, I'm driving."  
  
Tim followed her without a word. He'd known Calleigh long enough to know when there was no sense, and even a little risk, in arguing with her.  
  
_______________________  
  
"My name's Maria Santiago." After a few minutes of silence, Maria decided to try to reach her attacker in some way. At the very least, by telling him her name and trying to talk to him, she could appeal to whatever humanity was in him, under the drug-addled animal that had been staring at her with cold, lifeless eyes. "What's your name?"  
  
"Doesn't matter." He replied. "I'm already dead. Soon you will be, too...Maria. So it doesn't matter."  
  
"I think it does." Maria said softly.   
  
He regarded her for a moment, then looked out the window. "Jared." He said, almost inaudibly. "My name's Jared."  
  
Before Maria could respond, her cell phone rang, the sound startling both captive and captor. Jared rose to his feet and brandished his knife.  
  
"Calm down, it's just my phone." Maria said. Keeping one hand raised where he could see it, she reached into her pocket with her other hand and took out the phone.  
  
"Turn it off." Jared ordered.  
  
"It's my boss, let me talk to him." Maria pleaded. "He might be able to help you." When Jared didn't reply, but also didn't make any move to stop her, she opened the phone slowly. "Horatio?"  
  
"Maria." The relief her superior felt at the sound of her voice was evident. "Thank God. Are you all right?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Maria replied, not taking her eyes off of Jared for even a second. "He hasn't hurt me. Where are you?"  
  
"I'm right outside the house, I just got here."   
  
"Is Eric okay?" Maria asked.  
  
"He's fine." Horatio lied. There was no way he was going to tell her the truth. She needed to focus on only one thing, staying alive until help arrived. "Listen, hang in there for us, okay? SWAT should be here in a few minutes, we're going to get you out of there."  
  
"No, Horatio, tell them to stand down." Maria said firmly. "Listen, your idea needs some tweaking. I'm feeling a little cornered in here, I'd hate for anything to get out of control."  
  
Horatio swore under his breath. From the emphasis Maria was putting on certain words, he understood exactly what she was trying to tell him. Her captor was high, and if he felt trapped, he could easily become completely out of control, and kill Maria before the SWAT team could rescue her.  
  
At the other end of the line, there was a sudden struggle.  
  
"Maria!" Horatio shouted. "Maria, are you all right? Can your hear me?! "  
  
"Hey, cops, you listening?" A man's voice came on the line. "Well, listen to this. Tell your people to back the fuck off, I swear to God I will cut this bitch's throat."  
  
"Fine." Horatio said tensely. "Now you listen to me. That woman you are threatening is a detective with the Miami-Dade Police Department. At this point, you have a good chance of getting a plea bargain. If she does not walk out of there alive, you will lose any chance at a deal, and you will face the death penalty, do you understand?"  
  
"Yeah, I get it."  
  
"Good." Horatio said. "Now, tell me what you want us to do before you'll let her go."  
  
"There's nothing you can do." The voice rasped. "Not for me, and not for her." The line went dead.  
  
"No!" Horatio choked out. "Don't you hang up on me...damn it!"  
  
"Did you talk to her?" Eric asked. "Is she okay?"  
  
"She's fine, he's not hurting her." Horatio assured him.  
  
"Well, what does he want? Money? Transportation out of here?"  
  
"I'm not sure yet." Horatio said. He hated to have to lie to two of his CSIs in just a few minutes, but Eric was worried enough about Maria already. "But I'm going to figure it out, and Maria is going to be all right. But I'm not sure about you, I think you need to go to the emergency room."  
  
Eric shook his head. "I can't do that, H." There was no way he would leave willingly until he saw Maria come out of the house, and knew that she was safe.   
  
"Why are you doing this?" Horatio demanded. "What are you trying to prove?"  
  
"I got her into this." Eric snapped. "I should have been more aware, but I let my guard down. So I'm not going anywhere until we get her back. And if that son of a bitch hurts her in any way, so help me God..." He trailed off and turned away abruptly, walking away before Horatio could say anything.  
  
________________________  
  
TBC... 


	3. Chapter Three

Title: Isolation (3/4) (Second story in an ongoing series that began with "Blood Ties.")  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own anything to do with CSI: Miami, and all you'd get if you sued me is a laptop and a couple pairs of really nice shoes. Hardly seems worth it, right?  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC) slight Tim/Calleigh  
  
Feedback: Your feedback = my inspiration = more frequent updates.  
  
  
  
_________________________________  
  
"Who are 'they?'" Maria asked hesitantly. "Who's after you, Jared?"  
  
"Shut up." Jared snapped.  
  
"I can help you, if you let me." Maria pressed. "You could hide here, there are so many places where no one could ever find you." He was completely out of his mind, and all she could was stall for time. She had to get through to him, any way she could.  
  
For a moment, his eyes focused on her, and it looked like he might have really been listening to her. Then his look changed to one of anger, and he suddenly grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the edge of the tub repeatedly.  
  
Squeezing her eyes shut, she let out an involuntary cry of pain. He let go of her hair and looked at her, and she decided to try a different tactic. "Stop..." She said weakly. Surviving captivity had been covered extensively in basic training, and again in the academy. She knew she had to humanize herself without being defiant, and be compliant without begging and simpering.   
  
She also knew that there was a good chance that he would try to rape her, and the thought made her sick. But if she tried to fight him off, she was sure he would kill her.  
  
"Do you have any sisters?" She asked.  
  
Jared looked at her strangely. "Yeah, I got a sister."  
  
Maria stared right into his eyes. "You wouldn't want anyone to hurt her like this, would you?"   
  
Amazingly, that seemed to get through to him, at least enough that he stepped away from her slightly. He stared at her fitfully, as if he wasn't sure what to do next. Then he screamed and put his fist through the window.  
  
Maria winced slightly as shards of glass rained down on her. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to think about her friends who were waiting outside for her. She didn't want them to come looking for her, and find her brutalized body instead. She had to stay alive for them.  
  
_______________________  
  
The sound of breaking glass caught Horatio's attention. Looking in the direction that the sound had come from, he saw that a window on the second floor of the house had been shattered.  
  
"H, what the hell is taking so long?" Eric demanded. "SWAT should have been here by now."  
  
"We're not sending the team in." Horatio admitted. "It's too risky."  
  
"Too risky?" Eric repeated, becoming more agitated. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"It's not something you need to worry about, Eric." Horatio insisted. "Right now, the best thing you can do is take care of yourself. As of this moment, you're no longer working on this case."  
  
Eric shrugged. "Fine, take me off the case. But how are you going to make me go to the hospital?" He stepped away.  
  
Horatio told himself not to lose his temper. But he couldn't understand why the younger detective was challenging him, or why he was showing such disregard for his own health.  
  
"Jesus, how hard did you get hit?" Hagen scoffed, having overheard the exchange. "What can you possibly do to help? Hell, you're injured, you could end up doing more harm than good."  
  
"For fuck's sake, Delko." Another voice cut in. "When Hagen's telling you that you're acting like a stubborn jackass, you must really be acting like a stubborn jackass."  
  
The two men turned and saw Calleigh standing behind them with Tim.   
  
"Good." Hagen said. "Maybe you two can talk a little sense into him."  
  
Calleigh grabbed Eric's arm and pulled him aside. "What is wrong with you? You need to see a doctor."  
  
"She's right, Delko." Tim said. "Hasn't Alexx been telling you to get to the emergency room? She's the one with the medical degree."  
  
"And I'm the one whose girlfriend is being held hostage by a psychopath with a knife." Eric replied, shaking Calleigh's hand off his arm and walking away.  
  
"Fuck." Calleigh muttered under her breath, rubbing her forehead. "What are we going to do about him?"  
  
"I hate to say it, but there might not be anything we can do." Tim told her. "He's stubborn as hell, especially about Maria."  
  
"Blinded by the booty." Calleigh sighed. "And tell me he did not just use the word 'girlfriend.'"  
  
Before Tim could answer, Horatio approached them, with Eric close behind. "We're bringing in Aaron Struecker. We've got permission from the family across the street for him to take up a sniper position in the second floor of their house."  
  
Calleigh felt sick. Struecker was the best sniper the police force had. They wouldn't be calling him in unless there was no other way to end the crisis.  
  
"All right, that's it." Eric said angrily. "There's something you're not telling us. First you call in a SWAT team, then tell them to stand down because it's 'too risky,' and now you're bringing a sniper in? H, what the fuck is going on here?"  
  
Horatio gave up. There was no way he could hide the truth from them any longer. "The suspect's tweaked. He's not cooperating, and he refuses to negotiate for Maria's release. He doesn't intend to let her go."   
  
Tim cursed and looked at the ground. Calleigh buried her face in her hands. Eric stood silent for a moment, then spoke.  
  
"If anything happens to her, tell Struecker not to take a shot at the son of a bitch." He said. "Just let me at him."  
  
"Eric, that is enough!" Horatio said firmly. "Either you go to the hospital and get checked out now, or you're fired."  
  
"You wouldn't fire me. And I don't need to see a doctor, I'm fine."  
  
"You're fine now." Tim pointed out. "Half an hour from now, you could be dead. You've seen victims who got hit on the head and were fine even for days, and then just dropped dead out of nowhere. Is that a risk you're willing to take?"  
  
Eric thought about this for a moment. But when he started to reply, he suddenly stumbled, and then fell to his knees.  
  
"Now do you believe us?" Calleigh demanded as she and Tim crouched down beside him, while Horatio shouted for the paramedics.  
  
"I can't leave her." Eric protested, barely able to form the words.  
  
"You have to leave." Tim said. "For Maria. How do you think she's going to feel if anything happens to you?"  
  
"When she's out, we'll make sure you find out about it as soon as possible." Calleigh vowed. "Delko, please. I don't want to have to tell her that you're dead."  
  
_____________________  
  
"What's going on out there?" Maria gasped, hearing the unmistakable sound of a departing siren through the shattered window.  
  
"Doesn't matter." Jared hissed, grabbed her hair and forcing her to sit down.  
  
"Just let me take a look." Maria begged.  
  
"Shut up!" Jared yelled, shaking her roughly. As he did, the knife that was still in his hand slipped and sliced the back of Maria's neck wide open, right above her shoulder.  
  
______________________  
  
"Think he's going to be okay?" Calleigh asked as the ambulance left.  
  
"Well, the paramedics seemed to think so." Tim said. "And he was still arguing with me, which is a good sign."  
  
"What was that?" Calleigh gasped. Over the commotion that had surrounded the ambulance's departure, she could have sworn she heard someone cry out.  
  
"Don't worry." Tim didn't know what else to tell her. He couldn't say that everything was going to be okay. They had both seen situations like this before, and they knew the odds weren't good. There was no guarantee that Maria was going to survive.   
  
"I can't help it." Calleigh admitted. In the month that Maria had been living with her, they had become close friends. They had bonded over mojitos and stories about the difficult pasts they'd had to overcome. Calleigh had vented about a drunken father who swore he would change and never made good on his promise, and Maria had talked about her abusive marriage, confessing things to Calleigh that she had never told anyone outside of her family. In a way, Calleigh felt protective of her friend. "I just wish there was something I could do."  
  
"Yeah, I know." Tim put his arm around her, and let her lay her head on his shoulder. "But just think how glad Maria will be to see you waiting for her when she comes out of there."  
  
"She might not." Calleigh said. She had kept a tight lid on her emotions up until now, determined not to let herself break down. But something about the feel of his arm around her was making that incredibly hard to do. "She might not come out of there alive."  
  
Tim was at a loss for words. He wrapped his other arm around Calleigh and held her close. "I know." He said finally. "I'm so sorry, Cal."  
  
____________________  
  
Horatio stood a few feet away, watching the two CSIs. He had been concerned about how Calleigh would handle the situation, given how close she was to Maria. It was just one of a million reasons why he was determined to get Maria out of there.  
  
"Caine? It's Struecker." The sniper's voice hailed him over his radio. "I'm in position."  
  
"Good." Horatio said. "Do you have a visual on the hostage?"  
  
"Affirmative." Struecker replied. There was a pause, and then: "Shit. Looks like she's injured."  
  
Calleigh and Tim heard overheard this, and both of them moved closer to Horatio.  
  
"Damn it." He said. "Can you tell how badly she's hurt?" All three of them listened for the response, holding their breath.  
  
"Negative." Struecker answered. "She's sitting up, appears fully conscious, but there's a lot of blood."  
  
"All right." Horatio thought for a minute. "Keep me posted on her condition, and let me know if you have a clear shot at the suspect." Horatio put down the radio. "Okay, we need to move officers into the house, have them ready to go at a moment's notice if Struecker gets a shot off. Calleigh, I need you to call for another team of paramedics, we need them here as soon as possible."  
  
Calleigh nodded. She could feel her fear and helplessness evolving into pure, controlled anger. Whoever this tweaked-out whackjob was, he had hurt two of her friends. Now he was going to pay, she would make sure of it.  
  
_________________________  
  
"Get me a towel." Maria said, keeping her hands pressed against the wound in the back of her neck. It was no use, she couldn't stop the bleeding. "Jared, get me a towel!" She said again after a moment.  
  
He had been sitting against the door, gazing blankly at the wall, but shifted his eyes slightly towards her when she spoke. "Is my niece going to be okay?"  
  
Maria froze at his words. "Your...your niece?"  
  
"Janie." Jared said. "Michael's kid. Is she all right?"  
  
"Michael was your brother?" Maria asked. "You killed your own brother?"  
  
Jared laughed, an empty, soulless laugh. "No, stupid bitch. She's my sister's kid. She took off a few years ago, left Janie with Michael. Is Janie okay?"  
  
"You didn't seem to care much what happened to her before." Maria scoffed.  
  
"I didn't want to hurt her." Jared snapped. "I didn't want to leave her in the house, didn't want them to find her. They would have killed her, just like they would have killed Michael. I got to him first, though. I was just gonna take Janie and leave her at a neighbor's place or something, so they wouldn't find her."  
  
"For fuck's sake, who the hell are 'they?!'" Maria shouted. Her head spun, and she leaned back against the tub, dizzy from blood loss. After a minute, she opened her eyes. "Janie will be fine, Jared."  
  
He looked at her then, and grabbed a towel off of a shelf. He tossed it to Maria, and she started to fold it up. But as she started to press it against her wound, Jared suddenly lunged at her, knocking her to the ground. She found herself lying on her back in the broken glass from the window.  
  
'This is it.' Maria thought as he leaned over her. She was far too weak to even think about fighting back. Instead, she gritted her teeth, and waited.  
  
But Jared didn't try to rape her. He just lay on his side, less than a foot away from her, pressing the tip of his knife against her collarbone.  
  
Maria hardly dared to even breathe. Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to think of something, anything, to distract her from the still-bleeding cut in her neck, and the shards of glass that were digging into her flesh.  
  
_________________________  
  
"Did you hear from the hospital yet?" Calleigh asked.  
  
"Just did." Horatio confirmed. "Eric had very minor swelling and internal bleeding, nothing the doctors couldn't take care of pretty easily. If he hadn't gone with the paramedics when he did...well, the important thing is that he's going to be all right."  
  
Calleigh let out the breath she had been holding in and eased her grip on Tim's hand, which she had been clutching for most of the past half hour. "Good." One down, one to go.  
  
"What's the status on the paramedics?" Horatio asked.  
  
"In position behind six SWAT personnel." Calleigh replied. "They're all ready to move as soon as they get the call."  
  
Horatio nodded as he took out his radio. "Struecker? What's the situation in there?"  
  
"Can't tell what the fuck's going on." Struecker replied. "The hostage is lying down, I can't see her. Suspect's standing, but I can't get a good shot at him, the angle's wrong."  
  
"This is taking way too long." Calleigh said to Tim.  
  
"Yeah, but this is the best way to get at the guy without risking Maria." He reassured her. "It's gonna work."  
  
"It had better. I can't afford to have to look for another roommate." Calleigh tried to sound casual and make a joke, but she could feel herself nearing her breaking point. She just wanted this nightmare to be over, for her friend to be safe and the bastard who had her to suffer for what he had done.  
  
"Are you holding up okay?" Tim asked. It was a rhetorical question, she was biting her lower lip and wringing her hands, and the look in her eyes was one of pure fury. Tim couldn't help but think that if Maria wasn't rescued soon, he'd have to hold Calleigh back from charging into the house herself. "Look, this whole mess is making me crazy, too. But it's happening, and there's nothing we could have done to stop it."  
  
"I wish that were true, Speed." Horatio cut in. "But the truth is, I got Eric and Maria into this. I told them to go into the house to find the girl, I should have told them to take back up. If either of them dies...it's going to be because I made the wrong call."  
  
"You had no way of knowing." Calleigh protested. "The house had been checked, the officers said it was clear. And there was no way they could have known he was in there, either."  
  
"Yeah." Horatio said after a moment. "Maybe. Look, Calleigh, it would probably be a good idea if someone could be at the hospital when Eric wakes up. If you and Speed would rather not be here right now-"  
  
"We're staying." Tim interrupted. "I don't know about Calleigh, but I'd rather not go see Delko until we've got some good news for him."  
  
"I agree." Calleigh said. "The sooner this is over and we can tell him that Maria's safe, the better."  
  
Horatio nodded. "All right."  
  
"Caine, it's Struecker, I've got a shot!" The sniper announced over   
  
the radio.  
  
"All right, take it, take the shot." Horatio replied. "Calleigh, tell the SWAT and paramedics to move as soon as they hear the shot."  
  
___________________________  
  
"Jared, you have to let me go." Maria pleaded softly. "Please, I can help you. But if you don't let me go, this is going to end badly, for both of us."  
  
"Shut up." Jared snapped, standing up. He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and pulled her upper body off the floor. Her head dropped back, exposing her throat.   
  
As Jared raised his knife, Maria used the last of her strength to scream as loudly as she could.  
  
But her scream wasn't loud enough to drown out the gunshot, or Jared's cry of pain. Then there was chaos. Opening her eyes, she saw Jared drop his knife and clutch his shoulder as he fell to his knees. With an incoherent cry of pain and rage, he reached out, closing his hand around her neck. Just as he tightened his grip, the bathroom door seemed to explode behind them. Then the voices. Maria couldn't make out faces or bodies, but she could hear voices.  
  
"Let her go and put your hands behind your head!" A voice commanded. After a moment, Jared's hand was off of her throat, and she fell back onto the floor. Somehow, she managed to force her eyes open, and tried to call towards the door.   
  
She felt hands on her again. But these hands were gentle, careful, lifting her up and then slowly laying her down.   
  
"Detective, can you hear me?" A woman's voice asked. Maria opened her mouth, but she couldn't seem to get any words out.  
  
"Maria!" Finally, a familiar voice. Maria could make out Calleigh's face, standing over her, while Tim told Horatio over his radio that the suspect was in custody and Maria was safe.  
  
Calleigh stepped back to let the paramedics work on her friend, just as the SWAT team emerged from the bathroom with the suspect in handcuffs. The sight of him was a shock. Calleigh had, for whatever reason, expected a monster, huge and intimidating. Instead, he was skinny and scared looking, and didn't appear to be a day over twenty. She felt her anger fade, and realized that if Maria hadn't been bleeding out all over a gurney just a few feet away, and Eric hadn't been in the hospital with a head injury, she would have felt sorry for the guy.   
  
Maria's voice, as soft and weak as it was, pulled her back into reality. "Calleigh?"   
  
"I'm here, Maria." Calleigh said soothingly, reaching between the paramedics to take the other woman's hand. "You're safe now, it's over."  
  
"And you're a hero." Horatio said as he approached. "You saved that little girl's life, and her mother is on her way back from California to get her."  
  
Maria managed a weak smile as her eyes drifted shut again. It was all over, she could finally rest.  
  
"Come on, stay with us, Maria." It sounded like Tim's voice, but she couldn't be sure. She felt too tired to figure it out. Their voices blended together, then faded.  
  
_______________________  
  
"We're losing her, she needs blood! We need to get her on the rig and start a transfusion, now!"  
  
"All right, clear the way, let's get her out of here!"  
  
________________________  
  
TBC... 


	4. Chapter Four

Title: Isolation (4/4) (Second story in an ongoing series that began with "Blood Ties.")  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own anything to do with CSI: Miami, and all you'd get if you sued me is a laptop and a couple pairs of really nice shoes. Hardly seems worth it, right?  
  
Rating: PG-13   
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC) slight Tim/Calleigh  
  
Feedback: Your feedback = my inspiration = more frequent updates.  
  
  
  
Soundtrack (Music I was listening to while writing this part/lyrics that appear in this part.): "Friends and Family," by Trik Turner.)  
  
___________________________________  
  
Cause every moment counts from the good times to the bad  
  
I don't have time to envy those that got things I've never had  
  
Cause the one thing most important is the one we take for granted  
  
And until your life is on that line   
  
I think it's the way god had planned it  
  
To open up your eyes and make you realize...  
  
...Cause all I need is the air that I breath  
  
And my friends and family to believe in me  
  
____________________________________  
  
"So, you're gonna be fine?" Calleigh asked.  
  
"Yeah, just a few stitches." Eric replied. "And I've got to stay here overnight. They had a tube in there to drain out the blood, and they gave me something to take down the swelling and told me to take iteasy for a few days."  
  
"You got lucky, man." Tim said. "I mean, you got hit in the head. Not like you keep anything in there, right?"  
  
"I've been awake for about ten minutes and I'm already being abused. I'm either in hell, or I made it." Eric chuckled. "So, where's Maria? She pissed at me or something?"  
  
Calleigh took a deep breath. She'd known that Eric would ask about Maria sooner or later. But she didn't want to tell him. She had promised him that Maria was going to be all right.   
  
Luckily, Tim cut in. "Uh, listen, Delko, Maria's here, but...she's in the ICU. We don't know exactly how it happened, we think maybe she was fighting back...she got cut. She lost a lot of blood. They did a few transfusions, but she's still unconcious, and they don't know if she suffered any kind of permenant damage."  
  
"Shit." Eric said after a minute. "But...she is gonna live, right?"  
  
"Yeah." Calleigh replied. "The doctors seem to think so. But she was bleeding for a long time. There could be some damage to her internal organs...or even brain damage." An image flashed in her mind of her beautiful, vibrant friend confined to a wheelchair, her lively green eyes dull and glassy, her body hanging limp and useless. Her stomach lurched and she took a deep breath to ward off nausea. For a moment, she thought she would rather see Maria die than see her have to live like that. Then she pushed the thought away, hating herself for even allowing the idea to enter her mind.  
  
"Did you get to see her yet?" Eric asked.   
  
"No, they wouldn't let us in." Tim said. "The nurse said we'd have to wait until she's more stable."  
  
"More waiting." Eric sighed in frustration as he leaned back. "Great."  
  
________________________  
  
"Lieutenant Caine?"  
  
Horatio turned and saw a woman with long auburn hair standing behind him. She was tall, slender, and pretty, with a youthful face. But her brown eyes were tired, and made her look much older than she must have been. "I'm Marcella Stoeger...I was told to come here to pick up my daughter, Janie?"  
  
"Mrs. Stoeger." Horatio shook the woman's outstretched hand. "Actually, Janie is at the hospital right now. There's no need to worry, she wasn't hurt. We just wanted to make sure she wasn't dehydrated, and let her talk to a child pyschologist. You'll be able to pick her up very soon, though."  
  
Marcella's face instantly looked ten years younger, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Good. And...I heard that one of your detectives saved Janie's life? A young woman...I didn't get her name. Is she here? I'd like to meet her, and thank her."  
  
Before Horatio could break the news that Janie's rescuer was in the hospital as well, and hadn't escaped as unscathed as Janie had, his cell phone rang. "I'm sorry, could you excuse me for just a moment?" He took out his cell phone, silently praying for good news. "Caine." After listening to Calleigh for a minute, a smile spread across his face. "All right. We'll be there soon." He turned back to Marcella. "If you'd like, Mrs. Stoeger, I could take you to see your daughter, and the woman who saved her, right now."  
  
_______________________  
  
"You scared the hell out of us, you know that?" Calleigh chided playfully.  
  
"Sorry." Maria managed a weak smile. "Hell, no I'm not. Janie's okay, isn't she?"  
  
"Yeah, she's fine." Eric confirmed, stroking Maria's hand. "She got lucky. And so did we."  
  
"We should leave these two alone." Tim suggested to Calleigh.  
  
"Wait a minute, you guys are ditching us?" Maria complained. "We're going to be stuck here all night."  
  
"There's some paperwork at the lab that we've got to take care of. We'll come back later." Calleigh assured her. "I'll be back after Laura and Jade come over, and the three of us raid your closet."  
  
"Hey, you bitches better keep your hands off my shoes, you hear me?" Maria called to her roommate's retreating form. "Do not touch the shoes!"  
  
"I'll keep an eye on her for you." Tim chuckled as he followed Calleigh.  
  
"Thanks, Tim!" Maria's voice seemed to be getting stronger by the minute. "And try to sneak us some Krispy Kremes or something, okay?" As soon as their colleagues were gone, she turned her head to look at Eric, who was sitting beside her bed in a wheelchair, scanning her face almost obsessively. "Hey." She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. "I'm okay."  
  
"I know." Eric said, kissing her palm gently. "I just need to keep reminding myself."  
  
"Calleigh told me that you put yourself at risk, trying to stay at the scene." Maria said.   
  
"I wanted to see you walk out of there." Eric explained. "I didn't want to leave without knowing that you were safe."  
  
"Eric..." Maria sighed. "Come here."  
  
Eric leaned in, expecting a kiss. Instead, what he got was a slap in the face. A surprisingly strong slap, considering the weak condition Maria was in. "Ow! What the hell?"  
  
"Don't you ever, ever do anything that pigheaded again, you hear me?" Maria scolded. "Eric, you could have died. I could never have lived with that." Her face softened slightly and she caressed his cheek again. "On the other hand...thank you. For caring that much. Just don't ever feel the need to prove how much you care, at least not like that, ever again."  
  
Eric smiled. "Okay." He leaned in again.  
  
This time, a knock at the door interrupted them. "Detective Santiago? Detective Delko?" A woman leaned into the room. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude..."  
  
"No, it's all right." Maria said, trying to sit up, but finding that the bandages and tubes that surrounded her neck and shoulders made it impossible. "You must be Janie's mom."  
  
"That's right. Marcella Stoeger. I just wanted to thank you, and tell you how sorry I am that my brother put both of you through so much. Although...I don't think the man you saw today was really my brother, if you know what I mean."  
  
"I know exactly what you mean." Maria replied. "Your brother kept saying something about how 'they' were after him...does that sound familiar?"  
  
"Yeah." Marcella sighed sadly. "Ever since we were teenagers, he's had problems. Delusions, paranoia. He refuses to get help. But maybe where he's going, he'll finally be safe from 'them.'" She stepped fully into the room. "If I had known that any of this was going to happen, I never would have left. But I was falling apart, I was doing every drug I could get my hands on...I loved Janie too much to let her see her mother like that, and Michael was such a good father...so I took off, went to live with his parents in California...and I've been clean for two years."  
  
"You did what was best for your child, even though it couldn't have been easy to leave her." Eric spoke up. "There was no way you could have known that any of this would happen."  
  
"I know." Marcella smiled, and the two CSIs recognized her face for the first time. She was an older, wiser version of Janie. "I should go see her, she's going to be done talking to the pyschologist soon. And Lieutenant Caine wanted to come in and see you two. I just wanted to tell you how glad I am that you're both all right...and how incredibly grateful I am."  
  
_________________________  
  
"Well, we have a happy ending to yesterday's hostage crisis involving a murder suspect and a Miami-Dade police detective." The reporter on the TV was saying. "Tonight, Maria Santiago and fellow crime scene investigator Eric Delko are out of the hospital and expected to make full recoveries. The little girl they saved was reunited with her mother yesterday evening, and they will be returning to California before the end of the week. Suspect Jared Lightbourne will be arraigned tomorrow morning on a number of charges-"  
  
Maria turned off the TV and sighed as she buried her face against Eric's neck. "We're going to be hearing about this one for a while, aren't we?"  
  
"We can ignore it." He replied, pulling her into his lap and kissing her neck, being careful to avoid the bandages that covered her stitches.  
  
"Hey, knock it off!" The two of them looked up and saw Calleigh standing in the kitchen doorway, pizza boxes in hand. Tim stood behind her with a six pack of beer.  
  
"What?" Maria whined. "The doctors said we had to go easy on ourselves for a few days. Didn't say anything about going easy on each other."   
  
"Technically, she's right." Tim said to Calleigh. "But then again, who really cares about technicalities? Let's go, opposite ends of the couch."  
  
Maria and Eric grumbled as their friends sat between them on the couch.   
  
"This is going to be a very, very long night." Maria sighed, trying not to laugh.  
  
___________________________  
  
As deep as the abyss where the waters run  
  
As deep as the land of the rising sun  
  
You know I'm down  
  
And even when them odds are against us  
  
It doesn't even matter  
  
Nothing else matters  
  
___________________________  
  
Next time:  
  
---------------  
  
"I don't believe that you can just walk away that easily. I know you better than you think. Maybe even better than you wanted me to."  
  
*****  
  
"We've got a guy on the loose who's copying the M.O of the most notorious serial killer in history, and you want to talk about us?"  
  
*****  
  
"I shouldn't be telling you this. But you have a right to know what you're getting into, and Lord knows she's never going to tell you."  
  
---------------  
  
Stay tuned… 


End file.
